(This post, partially drafted a few days ago, reinforces my advice that we pay more attention to the reporting of journalists, photographers, videographers, and bloggers at work in the midst of the uprising. To understand why the uprising succeeded we must examine--among many factors--the critical role of both social and conventional media. Thus the continuing relevance of what follows. Numbers in parentheses refer to notes at end of post.)
Today at daybreak Egypt was teetering on the brink of a possibly violent historic turn. Mubarak, in his speech last night (February 10) claimed that he was transferring authority to Vice President Omar Suleiman. His refusal to step down disappointed and angered protesters in Cairo and across Egypt. Nobel laureate Mohammed ElBaradei predicted that "Egypt will explode" and asked the army to intervene to save the nation (1).
Now, on Day 18, a persistent, resilient people’s movement for democratic reforms, is celebrating a great victory. For ElBaradei it is "the greatest day of my life" (2). Activist Gigi Ibrahim told a BBC reporter that she was now "the happiest Egyptian alive" (3). (As I write, I can hear cheering from Tahrir on the live feed.)
Last week, when the Mubarak/Suleiman regime unleashed its forces on the protesters, trying to squelch their demand that Mubarak resign, the government’s targets included Egyptian and foreign reporters, whose coverage was influencing global public opinion (4). Press reports had been exposing the falsehoods dominating state-controlled TV and radio. Reporters had exposed the government’s role in inciting the violence in Tahrir Square and elsewhere. This put journalists on the front line. Reporters experienced harassment, bodily harm, arrest, and interrogation (5).
Future historians will owe a great debt to these reporters and to their sources–including the activists and ordinary people who forwarded blogs and Tweets. The result was an unprecedented collaboration between professional and "citizen journalists" in the production of what is often called "the first draft of history." It takes a lot of courage to keep working in the midst of such danger.
To share the hair-raising, even terrifying experiences of reporters in Egypt have your students read a first-hand account. Such an account is a primary source with an "on-the-ground" point of view (POV in a very literal sense) and affords an immediacy that other sources rarely match.
Maram Mazen
Maram Mazen, an Egyptian journalist working in Sudan for Bloomberg News, who had returned home on vacation, found herself caught up in the turmoil in Cairo. She was riding in a car with friends when it was attacked by the police and Mubarak supporters. Among her friends was the rather notorious blogger Sandmonkey, who was probably the target. Though Sandmonkey later revealed his identity, he had not yet done so at the time Ms. Mazen’s piece appeared online and so she makes not specific reference to him.
In addition to Ms. Mazen’s full-of-suspense description of the attack and detention by the police, she gave an interview. While you can use either or both in the classroom, the text tells a more complete story.
ASK: How would you have reacted if you had been Maram? What does the interview add to your understanding of the event?
WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Write a fictional account--based on Maram's--as if you were in the car and in detention with her.
Souad Mekhennet and Nicholas Kulish
Foreign press credentials offered little protection to Souad Mekhennet and Nicholas Kulish, two New York Times reporters, and their Egyptian driver. On February 3rd, while driving from Alexandria to Cairo, just as their car was entering the city, it was stopped at a checkpoint. They were detained for 24 hours and interrogated. But worse than their own interrogations were the screams of less fortunate detainees, whose "torture made it nearly impossible to think." Their account appeared online (Feb 4), then on the front page of last Sunday’s "Week in Review" section of the Times.
ASK: Why do you think these reporters were detained? How did Ms. Mekhennet’s identity–beyond being a journalist--influence how she was treated? Consider her identity as a woman, a German citizen, a person whose name pointed to her Arab ancestry. Why did the interrogator accuse their driver of being a traitor?
Committee to Protect Journalists http://cpj.org
RESEARCH ACTIVITY: Direct students to the web site of the Committee to Protect Journalists, where they can find out more about the dangers faced by journalists in Egypt or other countries. The top story on the CPJ home rotates. Today’s page includes "As Mubarak Leaves, the Press is Freed" and "Petition Calls on Iran to Free Journalists."
Scroll down to Mohamed Abdel Dayem’s blog post ("Courage in Documenting Egypt’s Revolution"). After reading it, follow the link to CPJ’s documentation of the "censorship, assaults, detentions, and worse" experienced by journalists covering the uprising in Egypt.
WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Write a blog post, news article, or opinion essay drawing on information provided in CPJ items and/or in their links.
Resources
Mazen, Maram. "‘You Will Be Lynched," Egyptian Policeman Tells Reporters; First Person." Bloomberg (2-4-11). http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-04/-you-will-be-lynched-egyptian-policeman-tells-reporters-first-person.html
VIDEO of Maram Mazen interview (05:21). Access from article or go to:
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/66471082
Mekhennet, Souad and Nicholas Kulish. "2 Detained Reporters Saw secret Police’s Methods Firsthand." NYT (2-4-11). In print in Sunday’s Week in Review section (2-6-11).
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/weekinreview/06held.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper
Notes
1) Widely reported. See NYT (2-11-11).
2) Reported on BBC and Al Jazeera live feeds (2-11-11).
3) Reported on BBC live feed (2-11-11). For Ms. Ibrahim see HistoryLynx (Feb 6).
4) See Peter Bouchaert, "Egypt’s Foreign Blame Game." Foreign Policy (2-9-11): http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/02/09/egypts_foreigner_blame-game
5) Widely reported on live feeds; see Robert F. Worth, "On Al Jazeera, A Revolution Televised Despite Hurdles." NYT (1-29-11).
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